LaHood Praises NYC But Shrugs at Transport Reform to Empower Cities

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the New York City area’s clean-transportation strategy today in a speech to the region’s metropolitan planning organization (MPO), promising a stronger focus on urban priorities even as he all but ruled out two reforms long sought by the nation’s cities.

LaHood’s speech to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council was well-received by a large crowd of local officials and voters. "In the months ahead, you can expect things to work differently at the DOT," he said, vowing to "provide greater flexibility to metro areas."

As U.S. policy-makers craft climate change policy, LaHood said, "the New York-New Jersey region will, by design and by necessity, point the way forward."

But after his remarks, LaHood revealed the limits of the Obama administration’s ultimate willingness to give cities a stronger voice in transportation decision-making. Asked by NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan about the possibility of allowing urban areas to "opt in" for direct aid from Washington — an idea backed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this year — LaHood demurred.

"I think MPOs will be looked at differently in the new
[federal transportation] bill than they have in the past, to take into
account the fact that cities and suburbs have been overlooked," LaHood
said. "We know that’s an issue."

He added: "Whether we
could ever get back to some sort of revenue-sharing [with state DOTs],
probably not — but we could put some emphasis in the new bill for
communities to have more of a say in how dollars are spent."

Sadik-Khan also raised an issue that has frustrated transit advocates for years: the federal government’s policy of matching local funds for roads at an 80-20 ratio, while transit projects receive a less favorable 50-50 federal-to-local match. LaHood’s response suggested that highways would continue to benefit from that advantage.

"The match for transit, as you say, is 50-50," LaHood told Sadik-Khan. "I don’t think the highway people are going to want to go to a 50-50 match. I think you
were thinking about going the other way, 80-20 for transit … well, I take your point."

LaHood, a 14-year veteran House Republican from Illinois before he joined the Obama Cabinet this year, did offer some constructive advice for city planners and residents.

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi observed that New York, like many urban areas, sends more federal tax dollars to Washington than it receives in aid — one of the few areas in which the city "get[s] back more than we give," as Suozzi put it, is transportation.

"Can you give us any advice about how to be more effective in getting more money from the federal government?" he asked LaHood.

The Cabinet member’s answer touched on a theme that Streetsblog Capitol Hill has discussed in the past: the disconnect between Congress’ uneven focus on urban-dominated states and the high number of senior lawmakers who hail from the nation’s cities. LaHood said:

The way to get more money … is to talk to your delegation. We used to get less [federal money] back for Illinois … until we elected the Speaker of the House from Illinois; then, that changed. You’ve got some very significant members of Congress from New York, not least of which is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the chairman of the Rules Committee. You’ve got very strong senators. … It’s going to come when your delegation says, ‘Hey, this region has got its act together. Now we need to pull together.’

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

On Monday, Obama announced his "green dream team." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wasn’t there. We’ve been calling around to Congressional staffers, advocates and insiders to get a better sense of what Obama’s appointment of Ray LaHood as transportation secretary means for those pushing for sustainable transport, smart growth, livable streets. While no one is giving […]

Several dozen cyclists rode to U.S. DOT headquarters today to present Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood with a letter signed by hundreds of local bike-ped groups, hailing the former GOP congressman’s support for their cause during his first 16 months on the job. LaHood, at far right, during a tabletop speech at March’s National Bike Summit. […]

The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which has drawn criticism for its inactivity at a rocky economic time for the nation’s cities, capped a day-long summit today with a speech by President Obama. Referencing his formative years as a Chicago community organizer, Obama urged the mayors, governors, and Cabinet secretaries who attended the urban […]

BikePortland‘s Jonathan Maus is down in D.C. today for the National Bike Summit, where Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave the opening address this morning. From Maus’s recap: Photo: Jonathan Maus At the outset of his remarks, he said, “I want all of you to know you have a full partner at the US DOT in […]

Bill de Blasio has appointed U.S. DOT Under Secretary for Policy Polly Trottenberg to lead the New York City Department of Transportation. Trottenberg is a veteran federal policy maker, whose resume includes stints working for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the 1998 federal transportation bill and for Senator Chuck Schumer. At the Obama […]

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking Congress to extend the existing federal transportation law for 18 months, averting the coming insolvency of the nation’s highway trust fund while putting off broad-based transport reform for as long as the Bush administration did in the days surrounding the 2004 election. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (Photo: AP) LaHood’s […]